Bgears 550 Watt Tarantula Review

Introduction:

Power....it's what we need to power the wonderful toys we use on a day to day basis. Without it there is just a blank screen to look at which really is no fun. By the same token, a power supply that is not powerful enough or of a decent quality can wreak all kinds of havok on the system it is installed in. BSODs, lockups, random reboots and the one thing you fear the most, an acrid burning smell when something decided to die. Hopefully you will not need to have that concern after making an informed decision on the power supply wattage needed for your particular build. There are a few power supply recommendation websites, but those are a worst case guideline.

The BGears 550 watt Tarantula modular power supply features a semi modular design in which the ATX 24-pin and 8-pin auxiliary 12volt lines are hardwired back to the PCB while the additional connections are broken outside of the power supply case. Features include a 135mm cooling fan, up to 86% efficiency, Active PFC and sleeved cables. Will this power supply take care of the needs of your system? Let's find out.

Closer look:

The Bgears Tarantula packing is detail oriented and illustrates the features of the Tarantula. The front panel shows the Tarantula and highlights some of the features. The rear panel goes into greater detail about the modular connections, and highlights the oversized heatsink and 135mm cooling fan.

The right hand panel shows the amperage rating and load capacity of each power rail. The left hand side panel illustrates the ATX 20+4 pin and 4+4 pin configuration for the auxillary 12v line.

Opening up the Tarantula packaging, you can see that everything is packed tightly in place with the documentation right on top. The Tarantula is enclosed in bubble wrap to protect the finish on the case.